Ballroom Dancing

So you think you can't dance? Well, you're not alone, but your numbers are getting smaller. Americans have rediscovered the pleasures of gliding around the floor in the arms of a partner. As a result, interest in ballroom dancing is greater than it has been at any time since the middle of the last century, say dance professionals. The reasons vary. People are looking for new ways to stay fit, and ballroom is a good way to meet people. But maybe it's something as simple as the fact that people are tired of dancing by themselves, as Thomas Murdock, vice president of marketing for Arthur Murray International, suggests.

When it comes to personifying the health benefits of dancing, Frankie Manning is Exhibit A. One of the Lindy Hop's greatest innovators, Manning, 90, teaches the acrobatic dance at workshops around the world, including one last weekend in Catonsville. "Dancing is a very good exercise and it's a wonderful exercise because it's a partner dance," says Manning, who invented the Lindy's hallmark "airstep," a move that sends a woman rolling over her partner's back and safely back to earth. "You're not alone taking these exercises," Manning says by phone from his New York home.

Judi Bard, program specialist for the Howard County Office on Aging, applied for a grant to get senior citizens dancing. Last week, in the atrium of Long Reach High School, they did. It was an intergenerational affair, with students from Long Reach greeting the seniors and serving coffee, cookies and croissant sandwiches. "And then we had a sheet cake," Bard said. "The kids were serving sodas and coffee, and they were just wonderful at the service." Dancing to the three-piece Norman Lock Trio began almost immediately, Bard said.

WHEN FRED Talentino was in the eighth grade, his mother signed him up for dance lessons. At first, he hated it. But as he learned the steps, his confidence grew, and he started to look forward to the classes - not that he would acknowledge it, of course. These days, Talentino tells that story to the eighth-graders at Patapsco Middle School at the start of the ballroom dancing unit he teaches. Talentino, a physical education teacher at the school in Ellicott City, started the program about 12 years ago because he wanted pupils to have a good time at the school dance held every spring.

The Knights of Columbus Holy Trinity Council No. 3413 will hold a shrimp feast from 7 p.m. to midnight Aug. 4 at the Columbian Center, 335 N. Ritchie Highway, Severna Park. The event will feature a buffet of shrimp creole, barbecue pork and chicken, hot dogs, baked beans, beer, soda and a cash bar. Entertainment will be provided by Glen Burnie disc jockey Grey Fox. There also will be prize wheels and video horse races. Proceeds will go toward repairs of the Columbian Center. Tickets are $25 per person in advance and $27 at the door.

The 16th annual Annapolis Striders' "Dog Days of Summer" 8K Cross-Country Run will be held at 8 a.m. Aug. 5 at Anne Arundel Community College. The 4.97-mile course will meander through the Earl Scott Trail, named after the former AACC groundkeeper and longtime member of the Annapolis Striders. The moderately hilly route will have some pavement. Water will be available on the course, and refreshments will be served at the finish line. No headphones, pets or baby-joggers are allowed. Awards will be presented at 9:30 a.m. to the overall male and female runners and to the finalists in each age group.

WHAT HAS 18 legs, more sequins than Liberace's closet and a combined age of more than 630? The answer is the Golden Girls and Company, a local tap dancing troupe of six women and three men, all older than 70. The dancers put on a show at Florence Bain Senior Center last week in celebration of National Tap Dance Day. Jackie Dunphy is the group's founder. "I put a little group together to get started and then we got offers to do some shows. Now we're headed for the big time," Dunphy said.

Dim lights, music, a basket of mints and numbers pinned on the backs of competitors marked Patapsco Middle School's fifth annual dance contest. But instead of boogying to their latest favorites on a Friday or Saturday night, eighth-graders competed in the foxtrot, waltz, swing and polka, culminating their physical education unit on ballroom dancing. "They want to know - what does dance have to do with PE?" said Fred Talentino, physical education teacher at the Ellicott City school who laid out contest ground rules.

THE LIGHTS ARE dimmed, and "Rockin' Robin" is ripe for swinging -- you can feel the music's four-four rhythm. Unfortunately, it's not strong enough to move you out of your seat.It's another dance and another night of watching other couples swing effortlessly across the floor.If this is the closest you've come to ballroom dancing, then you might want to consider a few lessons Wednesday or Friday nights at Dancing Made Easy in Westminster. The studio will soon have you tackling the tango.The studio, which has a long history in Westminster but is under new ownership, will offer "Social Success Nights" on Wednesdays and Latin dances on Fridays, both beginning next month.

The sweet-natured Japanese drama "Shall We Dance?" opens in a gilded dance hall with a voice-over primer in Japanese social repression. "The idea that a husband and wife should embrace and dance in front of each other is beyond embarrassment," says Shohei Sugiyama, a Tokyo businessman who discovers joy through ballroom dancing.For an American audience, the explanation provides a national context that transforms "Shall We Dance?" into more than a film about hoofing it in the Far East, a mere Japanese version of "Strictly Ballroom."